August 30, 2019

Inside this issue

• CCUSA Presents the Washington Weekly

  CCUSA Presents the Washington Weekly  
  Lawmakers remain home in their districts out of session for another two weeks. Once they return it will be a race to finalize appropriations before the September 30th deadline, otherwise they will need to pass a short-term funding extension. Funding priorities could be complicated with the expected landfall of Hurricane Dorian in Florida and the recovery costs associated with a major hurricane.

Catholic Charities USA (CCUSA) is preparing for the storm by coordinating with local agencies and ascertaining the needs on the ground. To assist local agencies, CCUSA and Airbnb today announced a partnership to provide free, short-term accommodations for Catholic Charities disaster relief personnel. "Our collaboration with Airbnb Open Homes is a huge support for our disaster relief efforts, allowing personnel to do what matters most: help those in need," said Sister Donna Markham OP, PhD, president and CEO of CCUSA. You can read the entire announcement here.

CCUSA is the official domestic relief agency of the U.S. Catholic Church. If you would like to help support CCUSA in their disaster relief efforts you can donate here.

Faith and the Common Good Padriac McGrath correctly identified Rerum novarum written by Pope Leo XIII as the encyclical and Pope that addressed the conditions of the working class in 1891.

Rerum novarum is subtitled "On the Conditions of Labor". In this document, Pope Leo XIII articulated the Catholic Church's response to the social conflict that had risen in the wake of capitalism and industrialization.

The pope declared that the role of the state is to promote social justice through the protection of rights, while the Church must speak out on social issues in order to teach correct social principles and ensure class harmony.

Rerum novarum looks very carefully at nineteenth-century urban poor and the challenges of unrestricted capitalism.  Pope Leo XIII proposed the idea of rights and duties including that workers have rights to a fair wage and reasonable working conditions.

This weekend as the United States celebrates Labor Day, we honor the contributions that workers have made to the development, growth, endurance, strength, security, prosperity, productivity, laws, sustainability, persistence, structure and well-being of the country. 

This year marks the 100th anniversary of the "Bishops' Program for Social Reconstruction". Please read the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops Labor Day statement here.
 
Prayer for Work
Creator God,
thank you for providing us
with the gift to share our talents.

Provide our community, our nation, our world
the fortitude to provide work for all
which is decent and fair.

Make us faithful stewards
of your creation
to enhance the human dignity
of our global family.

We ask this in the name of Jesus,
who lives and reigns
with you and the Holy Spirit
now and forever.
 
Amen
(From Being Neighbor: The Catechism and Social Justice, USCCB, April 1998)
 
Trivia The Feast Day of Saint Francis of Assisi is on October 4th. Which city contains the Basilica of Saint Francis of Assisi and when was it consecrated?

Please send your answers to [email protected] Please share the weekly with your friends, family and networks so that we can build a movement of solidarity for those most in need!

You can also access advocacy opportunities through our advocacy and policy page.

Stay connected with our work to end poverty, follow us on Twitter at @CCharitiesUSA.

If you would like to help further Catholic Charities' commitment to alleviating, reducing, and preventing poverty you can contribute here.  

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